Primeval Series 6 Episode 1 - Brave New World
by kindervelter
Summary: In the first episode of Series 6, "Brave New World", the team finds their work post-Convergence complicated by the arrival of a new team member who comes with a highly specialized skill set and some mysterious baggage. Meanwhile, a jet disappears into an aerial anomaly, an ancient bird of prey attacks modern-day London, and Matt must face the implications of his vision's warning.
1. Chapter 1

Primeval

Series 6, Episode 1

"Brave New World"

 _"Mr. Temple, do you know why you're here?"_

 _"I imagine it's got something to do with the entire universe almost being pulled apart by anomalies two days ago… I'll bet you're all pretty sore about that."_

 _"Mr. Temple, could you please state your full name for us, then today's date."_

 _"Uh, yeah, I suppose. My name is Connor Lee Temple, the date today is September 4, 2011."_

 _"Mr. Temple, could you tell us in detail about the events that transpired on September 2 of this year?"_

 _"Yeah, I'm betting I can. I woke up, had a hard boiled egg and drove to work. I drank a cup of coffee with my girlfriend - sorry, fiance now - Abby Maitland, and I -"_

 _"Mr. Temple, need I remind you that this is a federal investigation and that this video will be going into an official government report? If you and the ARC want to keep your funding and avoid jail time I suggest you cut the jokes and stick to the facts."_

 _"Right mate, sorry. I was only trying to lighten the mood a little."_

 _"Noted. Please continue."_

 _"Right then. On the day of September 2 the field team and I were called in to investigate an incursion in the center of town - A T-Rex had come through an anomaly and was wreaking havoc and causing general mayhem. Several of our team members were sent to the site to contain the creature while I went to New Dawn to try and shut down Philip Burton's anomaly device."_

 _"Which you helped to create?"_

 _"Yes, which I helped to create."_

With the flick of a button the video froze on a still of Connor's face. A moment later the tape was jerked out of the player by a gruff hand and tossed across the room, a second tape entering the slot a moment later. The screen buzzed to life with the face of a less-than-amused looking blonde woman.

 _"Please state your name for the official record."_

 _"Abigail Bernice Maitland."_

 _"Please explain, in detail, what transpired on the day of September 2, 2011."_

 _"Two days ago an event known as Convergence took place - millions of anomalies opening around the world simultaneously."_

 _"Please explain, for the official record, what an anomaly is?"_

 _"An anomaly is a rift in time, a junction where two periods of history of meet. Creatures can travel through the anomalies to our time, and vice versa. On the day of Convergence we were called into the ARC - the Anomaly Research Center - and sent to investigate a creature incursion. Hilary Becker and I were called away to deal with another anomaly, after which I went to help my fiance, Connor Temple, break into New Dawn to stop Philip Burton's anomaly device."_

 _"Were you successful?"_

 _"I… I don't know."_

The tape flew out of the slot again and was pitched to the corner containing Connor's video testimony. A third tape was roughly shaken out of its jacket and pushed into the machine.

 _"Please state your name for the official record?"_

 _"Is that strictly necessary?"_

 _"Captain Becker, you of all people should know how important protocol is - especially at a time like this."_

 _"Fine. Captain Hilary Ernest Becker. It's been two days since the event known as Convergence took place, killing three hundred and fourteen people around the globe. I assume that's what we're here to talk about."_

 _"Mr. Becker, could you tell us what occurred on the day of September 2, 2011?"_

 _"Yes, it's what I just told you. Millions of anomalies opened around the globe. I was sent to deal with a T-Rex in the center of town, though I was quickly called away to handle several other incursions."_

 _"Who called you away on these incursions?"_

 _"Jessica Parker, the ARC's head field coordinator. She tracked the anomalies during Convergence."_

 _"And in your opinion, do you feel she did her job adequately?"_

 _"What the hell are you talking about? Is this for your 'records' or is this a witch hunt?"_

 _"I assure you, Mr. Becker, no one is trying to assign any blame. We simply need to investigate every angle of this case. Now please tell us if you, as one of your team's longest standing and most distinguished members, feel that at any point Jessica Parker - or anyone on your team - took any missteps that might have lead to more casualties than was necessary?"_

 _"I'm out of here. If you want to talk about what happened during Convergence then fine, but I won't sit here and tell you which one of my teammates you should throw into a prison. This wasn't anyone at the ARC's fault. If you're looking for someone to blame I'd start with Philip Burton."_

Becker stormed off screen. Another tape out, another tape in.

 _"Please state your name for the official record."_

 _"Emily Rose Merchant."_

 _"Miss Merchant, can you describe for us in detail what transpired on the day of 'Convergence'?"_

 _"Matt Anderson and I were called into the ARC because of an incursion in the center of town - a rampaging T-Rex. Our team quickly became scattered as it became apparent that more gateways were opening. Eventually we regrouped at the New Dawn facility, where Philip Burton was attempting to create his own, man-made gateway."_

 _"Miss Merchant, while the rest of your team so far has referred to them as anomalies, you have been calling them gateways. Why is that?"_

 _"I... I simply know them by a different name."_

 _"Miss Merchant, can you tell us exactly what happened at New Dawn?"_

 _"Yes. Matt and I arrived first, with Abby Maitland and Connor Temple arriving a few moments later. Abby and I stood guard while Matt and Connor went to stop Philip."_

 _"Did they succeed?"_

 _"No. Not initially. Philip Burton was able to open his anomaly and Connor was taken through it. Abby and Matt went after him while I stayed behind to fend off the guards. I was eventually captured, though I escaped in time to make it out of the facility."_

 _"Miss Merchant, describe what happened later on that same day."_

 _"Connor had a smaller version of the anomaly in his laboratory at the ARC, which Matt drove into the larger anomaly in an attempt to close it."_

 _"Was he successful?"_

 _"I believe so."_

 _"Miss Merchant, everyone we've interviewed so far has said that Matt Anderson is closer to you than he is to anyone else at the ARC. Is this true?"_

 _"I don't think I'd be the best one to say."_

 _"Miss Merchant, in your personal opinion, was Matt Anderson affected by the events of Convergence?"_

 _"I… I honestly don't know."_

Another few button pushes and this tape was exchanged for a fifth one. The image of Jessica Parker appeared on the screen.

 _"Miss Parker, what was your role on the day of September 2, 2011?"_

 _"As Field Team Coordinator I was tasked with tracking the anomalies and assigning teams to deal with the incursions."_

 _"Would it be fair to say you were under a great deal more stress that day than any other?"_

 _"I'd say so. The world was quite literally coming to an end around me. I feel like that entitles me to a little bit of stress. But if you're asking if I was unable to perform my job carefully…"_

 _"Not at all, Miss Parker. Simply trying to establish your state of mind on the day in question. As field coordinator, you have a special view of the active team members, is that correct?"_

 _"Yes, I suppose so. Though on that day I wasn't too concerned with the psychological analysis of the ARC's employees."_

 _"Understandable. Now Miss Parker, as coordinator, do you feel that, at any point, the personal feelings of any team members impeded the ability of the team to do its job to the best of their abilities?"_

 _"God, no. Look, this team works well because the people care about each other. Abby and Connor are engaged and Matt and Emily are… well, to be honest I'm still not clear on_ what _they are, but they're clearly important to each other."_

 _"And you, Miss Parker?"_

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _"Do you feel that, at any point, your personal feelings for a fellow teammate might have impaired your judgement on the day in question?"_

 _"Are… I don't… Absolutely not. I can separate feelings from my work. I'm not even that interested in him."_

 _"Yes, Miss Parker, but all the same you_ do _know who we're talking about."_

One tape to go.

" _Please state your full name for the official record."_

 _"Matthew Taylor Anderson, field leader of the core team."_

 _"Mr. Anderson, your teammates have given us a very clear idea of what happened on the day of September 2. What we'd like to hear is your perspective on the events following your initial return to the ARC."_

 _"Initially? We arrived back at the ARC and found Jessica Parker and James Lester under attack from future predators who had come through Connor Temple's man made anomaly. Lester was in critical condition. Abby Maitland found a way to stop the predators, and after the threat was dealt with we returned to the New Dawn facility with Connor's anomaly."_

 _"Yes. Your teammates, with the exception of one, told us that you leapt into the car and began driving without consulting the rest of the team. Why did you only tell Miss Merchant your plan?"_

 _"I knew Emily was the only one who wouldn't try to stop me."_

 _"Perhaps. The question remains, however, is why you did it? Why not rig the truck to go by itself?"_

 _"Too risky. It had to be me. I had to see it through to the end."_

 _"Yes… could you tell us what happened after you drove the truck into the anomaly?"_

 _"In all honesty, I don't remember. One moment I was driving, the next I was walking out of a dust cloud and the anomaly was closed. The team and I returned to the ARC and were sent out to deal with another incursion."_

 _"And nothing else strange happened? No odd occurrences?"_

 _"No."_

 _"Mr. Anderson, I would like to remind you at this time that it is illegal for you to lie on an official government report."_

 _"Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary since that day."_

The screen lit up at the corners and the light folded into the center, the image dying away with a small crackling sound. The man seated across the room tossed the remote cavalierly onto the couch beside him and pulled out his mobile phone.

"Yeah, it's Hunt. I just watched 'em. You sure about this?" Chatter on the other end of the line lasted for a few moments before he spoke again. "If you're sure. I've got my meeting with this guy, Lester, in an hour. He's introducing me to the team." More talking, more orders being barked over the line. "Yes, I know the mission. Believe me, I can deal with these people. They won't know what hit them." Hunt pressed the button to end the call and shoved his phone back in his pocket, allowing himself one tiny smile. Honestly, sometimes his job was way too easy.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Notes:**_

 _Hey guys! Welcome to chapter 2 (which is really chapter 1 since the last one was basically just a teaser). I hope you're enjoying it so far, and since I didn't have any notes on chapter 1 I figured some introduction and explanation was overdue._

 _First off, a disclaimer: I don't own Primeval or any of the characters or creatures, much though I may wish I did. This is all just for fun._

 _Second, I'm American, so if you're reading this over in England and are like "lol that was totally incorrect", I apologize. But also: deal with it._

 _Third, I want to give a shoutout to this fanfic writer named "qjay" who wrote a Primeval Series 6 and 7 way back a few years ago. Those stories were freaking awesome and I was super sad when they were taken down without being completed. I hope that my upcoming series of fics will do both the show and those stories justice._

 _Finally, I THRIVE on reviews. Like, nothing makes me happier. So if you're enjoying the story, please, please let me know! Drop me a comment! Follow me! Leave a note on every chapter if you like this story. I've got the whole first and second story written so I'll be posting regardless for a while because, hey, they're done anyway, but keep me inspired to keep working. Enjoy!_

Primeval

Ryan Hunt had been to the Anomaly Research Center twice in his life. The first had been September 5, three days after Convergence, when he'd been invited to apply for an opening within the mysterious government project; the second had been when he'd come in for the official interview with James Lester, head of the ARC; today, his first day on the job, would mark the third time.

Hunt parked his sleek, black Mercedez in the car park beneath the complex and fished the ID badge he'd been issued out of his pocket. He clipped it to the pocket of his blazer, fidgeting with it in the mirror until it was perfectly symmetrical. Normally he wouldn't have been so preoccupied with his looks, but you know what they say - you only get one chance to make a first impression.

Satisfied that he looked presentable enough to meet the team, Hunt cut the ignition and climbed out of his vehicle, locking it behind him with the remote control on his key ring. He gingerly waved to a young brown haired woman wearing incredibly impractical heels that he recognized from the videos as Jessica Parker. She waved back excitedly, more like a schoolgirl than a professional who dealt with dinosaurs on a daily basis. Hunt supposed, in a way, he should admire her for that - he imagined it was hard to maintain one's innocence at a job like that.

He purposefully adjusted his speed so as not to arrive at the gate at the same time as her, letting her get buzzed in first. After a beat he followed suit, flashing his badge to the guard who pressed a small button at his desk and let Hunt through. He mused, as he walked down the hallway that lead to James Lester's office, that everything seemed much more uptight and secure since Convergence; a month ago there'd been no guard outside, no ID badges. It was a classic case of trading freedom for security.

"Ah Mr. Hunt, prompt as always." Hunt was taken off guard by the voice of slightly surly government employee James Lester, who had just emerged from one of the hallways that branched off the main drag to join him. Hunt checked his watch nervously, confirming that he was on time; Lester's dry sense of humor could make it damn hard to tell if he was joking or not.

"I was always taught it was rude to show up late on your first day," Hunt retorted, shifting his stance awkwardly to face Lester in the small hallway.

"Yes, quite…" the other man grumbled, turning and motioning with his fingers for Hunt to follow. The two walked briskly as Lester continued speaking. "I trust you made it into the ARC okay? We've had to beef up security around here in light of recent… events." Hunt read between the lines, assuming that when he said "events" he was most likely referring to the near-destruction of the universe.

"No trouble at all. In fact, I think I might have met one of your team's members on the way in. Friendly girl, brunette?"

"Ah yes, that would be Miss Jessica Parker. The only other brunette on our core team is decidedly not the friendly type." Hunt guessed that that particular jibe was directed at Emily Merchant. Lester went on, oblivious to his newest recruit's intimate knowledge of his team. "In just a few moments you'll be introduced to the Core Team - I warn you though, they'll hate you immediately and try to make your job as difficult as possible."

"I spent six years dealing with predators in Africa. I think I can handle some disgruntled government employees," Hunt joked. He could tell from the look on Lester's face that this wasn't something one joked about.

"Listen, Mr. Hunt, I don't know what kind of jobs you've had in the past, but I assure you this will be like nothing you've ever done before. These things are vicious, tough, and fiercely territorial - and then there's the creatures you'll have to deal with as well," Lester retorted, not missing a beat. Before Hunt could think of a suitable reply they were in the main rotunda of the ARC, facing what he remembered from his last visit to be the HUB - the command center of the entire facility.

Hunt sidled up to the railing next to Lester and took the moment of silence to size the place up; Jess, the girl he'd met outside and seen in one of the videos, appeared to have control over the HUB, which was situated on a platform that appeared to be sunk into the ground a few feet. The entire place was sculpted out of stainless steel which, while functional, also made it deathly sterile and borderline depressing. Jess's bright patterned clothing was the only splash of color in the room, the reds, blues, and yellows of her outfit starkly contrasting with the dark hues of the rest of the environment. Without waiting for Lester's permission Hunt descended the staircase into the HUB, resting his hip on Jess's desk.

"Hi," he said, his attempts at locking eyes with her going unnoticed as she never broke contact with the computer screen. The girl seemed to leap a little in her seat, as though she hadn't registered he'd been sitting there before he'd spoken to her. After a moment she regained her composure and swiveled her chair to look at him.

"Hello," she said, obviously flustered. She ran her hands over her skirt, something Hunt guessed was a nervous habit of hers. Hunt smiled at this; maybe she was just as goofy and hapless as she'd seemed.

"I was hoping to have the entire team assembled before making introductions…" Lester said. Hunt and Jess turned to face him, watching with mild amusement as the veins in his forehead pulsated, threatening to burst at any moment.

"Sorry, James," Hunt said. The informality seemed to catch Lester off guard, though he quickly regained his composure.

"That's Mr. Lester to you." Without missing a beat Lester turned his attention to Jess. "Miss Parker, could you tell me the whereabouts of our core team?" Jess turned back to the array of screens in front of her, smashing a few commands into the keyboard. A moment later video feeds from around the ARC popped up, revealing the five person group that made up the core field team sitting in the staff lounge (a perk that Lester had forgotten to mention to Hunt when he'd applied) drinking coffee.

"No anomalies so far today, sir. It's been pretty slow," Jess said.

"Something tells me it's about to speed up…" Lester said cryptically. "Jess, would you mind coming with us to talk to the field team? We're about to be implementing some changes around here that you'll want to know about." Hunt could tell from the girl's open lips that she wanted to ask a question, but he also saw Lester flash her a look that seemed to tell her to keep quiet for the moment. Without another word Jess rose and followed the two men down the hallway, around the corner, and into the staff lounge.

The one Hunt recognized from the videos as Abby was the first to notice them, cocking an eyebrow at Lester and motioning with her head towards Hunt - towards the new guy that, apparently, Lester hadn't told anyone about.

"Right then everyone, gather round. Important ARC business to discuss," Lester said, catching the attention of the other four people in the room. One by one they all looked at Lester, then at Jess, and then finally at Hunt - who, despite his impulse to squirm under their gaze, maintained his aloof demeanor.

"We're all ears, Lester." Hunt remembered Matt from the videos, and this half serious, half joking reply was what he had expected. An annoyed look passed over the boss's face before he composed himself.

"Thank you, Matt. Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Ryan Hunt," Lester began.

"Hi," Hunt said, extending a hand to the whoever would take it. The blonde he recognized from the video was the first to take it.

"Abby Maitland. Nice to meet you," she said, not sounding half as fiery and fierce as she had on the video- - though Hunt had no doubt that it wouldn't take much provocation for that side of her to emerge. He shook hands with her, careful to take in everything he could about her. In his experience, you could tell the most about a person by how they shook your hand; if they were angry, stressed, if they'd rely on you or betray you. Abby Maitland's handshake was quick and firm, the mark of someone who's trust had to be earned. He remembered from the videos that she'd been one of the first to join the ARC, and he guessed that years of working on something so impossible had taught her a thing or two.

Suddenly the moment was over, their hands separated, and Hunt was being introduced to someone else. He swiveled around awkwardly, his hand soon finding its way into Matt Anderson's. Hunt could tell from the strong, almost painful grip that this man was the alpha male of the group; moreover, if he knew what was good for him, he'd resist trying to challenge Matt's authority. He guessed that would be difficult once Lester told them the job Hunt had been brought in to do…

"Emily Merchant. Nice to meet you." Hunt snapped back to reality as a scarred and rough hand took his. Hunt shook it, noticing that Emily took the moment of mutual silence to look him up and down, no doubt looking for weak spots. If his hunch was correct, she was someone with years of solitude behind her that made her wary of human contact. She could read people in an instant.

A moment passed and Hunt was shaking hands with Becker, noticing the easy, gentle nature of the shake. He wouldn't have known it from the video he'd watched, but Ryan Hunt guessed that Becker was, perhaps more than the rest of the team, secure in himself. He knew what his role was and he liked to work within the (sometimes rigid) boundaries.

"And finally, Miss Jessica Parker," Lester said. Jess stirred behind him and maneuvered around her boss.

"Nice to officially meet you," Hunt said with a small smile, taking Jess's hand. He sensed that he'd been right about her before. She was an optimist at heart and loved her job, and more importantly her life, despite what she'd seen. Now, however, holding her hand, he saw an inner strength he hadn't before; some places where her kind facade had been cracked, though they'd healed stronger than ever.

"Well, now that we've all gotten to know each other…" Lester began. Hunt suspected from the way he let his words trail off that the man knew how unpopular what he was about to say was. "It is my duty as the Minister's servant to inform you that Mr. Ryan Hunt will be this team's new field leader." Lester shut his eyes immediately after the words were out of his mouth, trying to block out the chorus of objections that arose from the six people gathered before them.

"Lester, no!"

"We already have a field team leader."

"This is absurd. We're the best team the ARC has and you want to introduce someone new?"

"What about Matt?" It was Abby's question that finally silenced them all. One by one everyone gathered there, even Hunt, turned to look at Lester.

"Matt will remain on the team, but he will no longer be in charge of decisions in the field."

"We're a five man team, Lester. That's the ARC's policy. You can't just go and introduce a sixth member. The rules don't change just because you want them to," Matt argued. He was exactly as displeased with this news as Hunt had expected him to be.

"I'm aware of the rules, Matt - believe me I've been trying for a month to get around them," Lester said. Hunt couldn't be sure, but it appeared to him that Lester was as upset about this change as the rest of them were. He'd expected not to receive the warmest of welcomes, but to find out your own boss doesn't want you there…

"What do you mean? Is someone leaving the team?" Jess asked, obviously shocked. Hunt was beginning to question Lester's leadership skills; waiting until the new guy's first day to tell everyone their team was changing seemed sloppy.

"I'm afraid yes. The Minister took a look at our personnel files and decided, without any input from me mind you, which one of you would be leaving the Core Team," Lester said. His eyes wandered around the room, meeting everyone in turn.

"It's me," Emily said, sparing Lester the torture of having to say it himself. Even Hunt himself hadn't been told someone would be leaving the team, so this news came as just as much of a shock to him as it did to everyone else.

"I'm afraid Miss Merchant is correct. The ARC never officially hired her, so when the Minister found out she was receiving compensation for her services he demanded she be removed."

"You can't fire Emily, mate! It's not right. She's one of us!" Connor argued, slamming his fist on the metallic table for emphasis.

"Emily, I'm very sorry about this," Lester said awkwardly. "I did manage to talk the Minister into allowing you to keep your job… though you'll be working with Team 3." Hunt saw, even in the dim lighting, the way that Emily's eyes met Lester's, a silent acknowledgment passing between them. It was odd, Hunt thought, how people could be angry with someone and yet grateful at the same time.

Matt Anderson, on the other hand, was decidedly only the former. "Lester, this is ridiculous. Emily's better than everyone on Team 3. Moving her will do more harm than good," Matt shouted. By all accounts, he did have lots to be angry about: he'd been demoted and his girlfriend had been pseudo-fired.

"That may be, Matt, but they were the only team that had an… opening." Hunt guessed, given the team's reports on Convergence, that this particular opening was about six feet deep and shaped like a coffin.

"Matt, it's ok," Emily said, placing a hand on his arm. Her touch seemed to calm him and he became silent.

"I know this is all a lot for you to take in, so I'll give you some time to process. Jess, can you-" The anomaly alert cut through Lester's kind intentions, leaving the team scrambling towards the HUB.

Jess slid into her seat, breathless from the run back, and read what was flashing on the screen. "Anomaly alert, four miles from here. Or, maybe it's five. The readings are going in and out…" Jess said, clearly unsure of what was going on. Connor leaned in next to her and clicked a few buttons, the display on the screen changing from 2-D to 3-D.

"It's not four miles out it's… four miles up," Connor said, a note of giddy excitement creeping into his voice. Hunt couldn't help but smirk at this. "It's an aerial anomaly."

"Figures…" Lester said, massaging his temples. "Right then, I didn't want to make you do this today, but it looks like you'll be learning on the job, Mr. Hunt."

"That's the way I like it," Hunt said. Even this brief comment earned him glares from Matt, Abby, and Becker.

"Jess, call the Air Force and have them send someone with a helicopter to take us up there," Matt instructed. Instead of typing, however, Jess just awkwardly looked between him, Hunt, and Lester.

"Actually, Matt, that's no longer your call to make. Mr. Hunt?" Lester asked, motioning with his hand for the new team leader to begin giving orders.

"What he said," Hunt instructed. Then, thinking better of it, added: "Actually, Jess, call the airport. The nearest Air Force base is miles from here. We'll get a chopper much quicker if we commandeer one from Heathrow."

"Good call," Jess said, the words slipping out without her having any control over them. Hunt observed how the rest of the team shot her dirty looks. "Sorry," she muttered, typing a few more commands in.

"Right then," Hunt said, trying to break the tension. "Everyone get comms and let's be off before anything gets an idea to come through that anomaly."

"Wait!" The team stopped in their tracks and faced Jess, who'd gone pale in the glow of the computer screens. "A report just came in from Heathrow that one of their planes has gone missing and broken communication."

"Let me guess: the flight plan took them straight through the anomaly?" Connor asked, burying his head in his hands. Jess just nodded.

"You'd think after six years this would get easier," Connor said, sharing a glance with Abby.

"Yeah," she said, shaking her head. "That's what you'd think."

* * *

In three years of working at the ARC, Matthew Anderson had gotten used to being the one calling the shots; to making the hard decisions, to putting the team before himself, and to doing what had to be done. In short, he'd gotten used to authority. What's more, he'd never really realized just how much he _liked_ being in charge until it was gone.

"Connor, you stay here and coordinate with Heathrow; there's gonna be airplanes coming through this area and I need someone here to make sure no more get through that anomaly. Abby, Becker, and Matt, you're with me. We're going through the anomaly. I trust you're all up to date on your search and rescue techniques?" All three assured him they were, though Matt knew for a fact that not one member of their team had been updated on search and rescue in upwards of two years.

"We can handle this," Becker said simply, putting any doubts to rest. If there was one thing you could count on Becker for it was being able to end a conversation.

"Good," Hunt said. He placed his hand to his ear so the rest of the team knew what he said next was meant for Jess. "What's the status on the chopper?" Matt couldn't hear Jess's half of the conversation, but given the relieved look on Hunt's face he guessed the news to be good.

"How long?" Abby asked. "That anomaly could close any minute and we can't leave all those people trapped."

"God knows what that would do to history…" Becker muttered cynically.

"They're fueled and ready. We're gonna meet them on the tarmac right now," Hunt said, shouting over the growing sound of propellers slicing through the air. Matt looked to his left towards where he judged the sound to be coming from and saw a helicopter and several people pulling things out of it and stuffing things in. It looked old to him but, he supposed, beggars can't afford to be choosers.

The team walked quickly down the tarmac, Connor shrinking in the distance behind him. Matt caught Abby looking over her shoulder and quickly mouthing the word "sorry." As if she was the one who needed to be apologizing for any of this.

Before Matt could get any further into a rage about Lester, the team was being introduced one by one to their pilot, an attractive young American woman named Jo Grey. She shook Matt's hand gingerly, flashing him a crooked smile.

"You'll be flying this mission, then?" Matt asked.

"You got it, mate. Jo Grey at your service." Matt looked at Becker and couldn't help but smile at his reaction to the girl; she waved her hands when she talked and had a chipper yet somehow serious tone. She was exactly the kind of person Captain Becker didn't like.

"Miss Grey, I don't mean to sound skeptical of your abilities, but have you been fully briefed on what this mission entails?" Hunt asked, stealing a glance towards the sky where an anomaly waited for them.

"Listen, Mister, I own a TV. I saw what happened last month, all those lights appearing. Your government can put out all the cover up stories it wants, but I had a dodo bird pecking around my kitchen for an hour. So yeah, I think I've got an OK idea of what I'm getting myself into." Matt smiled as Hunt's smug grin faded and Becker's appeared. Maybe the good Captain would turn out to like this girl after all.

"Sounds like you've got a good handle on the situation," Becker said, smiling at her. "Shall we be off?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Jo gave Becker a playful swat on the arm before climbing into the helicopter and gunning the engine. A second later the propellers began to pick up speed.

"Ready, Hunt?" Matt asked as he buckled in next to their new team leader.

"As I'll ever be." With that Jo pushed her controls forward and they were off, headed into what Matt was sure would another near-death experience.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Notes:**_

 _Welcome back for Chapter 3! Fair warning: after this the update speed my flag a bit. Not a lot, it just won't be a chapter every day as it's been. I only started it off this way to get some momentum going. But don't worry! I'll still try to put chapters up as fast as possible._

 _Also: keep the reviews and follows coming! I know a bunch more of you have read the story than have reviewed, which is really encouraging, but please keep letting me know what you like and what you don't, what you think of the new characters, etc… I'm literally happy with whatever._

 _Anyways, enjoy Chapter 3! Things really start heating up here._

Primeval

"Right then, we're gonna need to divert all planes around those coordinates," Connor Temple said to the clearly overworked and overtired young air traffic controller seated next to him. The slightly younger man pushed a few buttons and input the coordinates Connor gave him. A moment later the intersecting lines on the screen in front of them seemed to go haywire.

"Computer doesn't like that. It can do cities, but it's tough for it to compute such a small point in space," the man said. Connor thought for a few moments before responding.

"Can I see those controls for a moment..," Connor looked at the young man's name tag pinned to his navy uniform. "Nate?" Nate shrugged and stepped aside, surrendering his keyboard. Connor cracked his knuckles and a wicked grin flashed across his face; this was his favorite part.

He smashed a few keys, his fingers flying across the board at jungle speed. A moment later the lines disappeared from the screen, leaving Nate chewing his nails nervously beside him; he really didn't want to be in trouble for twenty planes crashing simultaneously.

"There!" Connor shouted, startling Nate. They both looked at the screen and the lines reappeared, all intersecting and skirting around the anomaly.

"How'd you do that?" Nate asked, taking the keyboard back from Connor.

"I just reordered the servicing application to dilate the smaller numbers first and collate them into the program." Connor propped his feet up on the desk, looking smug.

"You just hit buttons until it worked, didn't you?" Connor smirked at this comment.

"Yup." Both men smiled, though there revelry was rather rudely interrupted by the sound of something large and heavy landing on top of the control tower. Panic passed over Nate's face and he cocked an eyebrow towards Connor as if to ask, _"what the hell?"_

Connor held out a hand for Nate not to speak as he got up cautiously and walked to the window opposite them. He pressed his eyes up to the glass, the action of tilting his vision up giving him a minor headache. He waited at the window for a few moments, just watching. When nothing happened again he walked back towards his chair.

"Must be spooking ourselves with this whole business," Connor said, laughing off the incident. He sat back down next to Nate, giving him a reassuring smile. Nate gave a nervous smile back, and Connor could tell _some_ of his stress was dissipating… although it all came back a moment later when a set of enormous talons slashed through the roof and ripped it off.

* * *

Jo Grey, for as tough a game as she talked, was out of her mind terrified about going through the glowing balls of light she'd seen so many times on the television over the past few weeks. Sure, she supposed, it was one thing to have it show up in your living room… but going through it? That was another thing entirely.

"You alright, Miss Grey?" Jo jerked her controls when she felt someone touch her shoulder, rocking the helicopter ever so slightly. She swiveled her head to see whose fingers were currently clasped around her and locked eyes with a brooding young man with an entirely too clean-cut look about him.

"Yup… just trying to concentrate," she snapped, not really intending to lash out at him. She tried to recover with a question. "You're Becker, right?" She knew it was lame, he'd already introduced himself, but she wasn't going to let the conversation die with her being rude.

"Yes. _Captain_ Becker," he corrected, wagging a finger at her and giving a half smile. She guessed from the way he presented himself that a half smile was the most she could ever expect out of him.

"Well _Captain_ Becker, mind telling me what it is we're going to see on the other side of this anomaly thing?" she asked, pushing her long brown hair out of her eyes.

"Honestly, Miss Grey, I wish I could tell you."

"You can just call me Jo. And what - you don't know what we're gonna see or you're not allowed to tell me?"

"Both, actually," he replied cryptically. In an odd way this sort of made her feel better. He flew into the unknown as a legitimate career; if Becker could do it day after day and still be alive she could get through it once.

"Super helpful," she replied, deadpan. He smirked a little at this, turning his attention to the sky in front of them.

"You ready to go through, Miss Gr - er, Jo?" Becker asked awkwardly as she pushed the controls forward.

"As I'll ever be, I guess," she said noncommittally, not bothering to look at Becker. She kept her eyes forward, not wanting him to see how nervous she was - she had a habit of putting up walls with new people until she knew she could trust them.

Becker opened his mouth to say something else, but with one deft movement she gunned the engine and the chopper jolted forward, flashing through the anomaly and shifting back through time God knows how many years. Jo opened her eyes - she'd unconsciously closed them when they'd gone through - and found herself in a new world. One moment she'd been surrounded by concrete and skyscrapers, the next she was in a prehistoric jungle.

"Not too bad, all things considered," Becker said, jolting Jo back to reality. She gave him a nervous smile as she checked her mirrors and looked at the three occupants in the back. One of the men - she thought she remembered him being introduced as Matt - was stone faced and solemn, while the blonde woman and the slightly younger looking man were craning their necks to the left and right trying to get a look at their surroundings.

"I'd say late Miocene, if I had to guess," the stone faced one said after just a cursory glance out the window.

"Wow," the other two said in unison. There was no way to tell how long they'd all been at the job, but something about their reactions told Jo that it never got old… even she had to admit, despite her fear, that travelling into the past in a helicopter was pretty exciting.

"Wow," Jo echoed, taking in her surroundings. Looking down revealed a dense jungle stretching out for miles in every directions, with just enough fresh water reservoirs scattered in between to accommodate a wide variety of animals; and, speaking of which, there were _lots_ of animals.

"What's out there?" the other man, Ryan Hunt if she remembered correctly, asked. "I mean, is there any chance of the occupants' survival?" It was a rather dark thing to say given the wondrousness of what they were seeing, but it did clue Jo into a certain contrast she was sure these people found in their jobs; it was breathtaking, but sometimes deadly.

"Won't know until we get down there. Speaking of which, can you locate the plane, Miss Grey?" Becker said, motioning with his head towards her radar system.

"I'm picking up a large object," she said, pointing to a pinging dot on the screen. "But without much background on where - or when, I guess - we are, there's potentially a _lot_ of large objects out there."

"Great," the dour one said, deadpan. "I guess we'll find out when we get there."

"Right then, I'll take us towards it and see what we pick up," Jo said, pushing some buttons and moving her controls forward.

Suddenly she felt the cockpit rattle around her, her systems going haywire and the whole craft dropping through the air. Jo pulled senselessly at her controls, seeing through the confusion another pair of hands grabbing hers and helping her pull. Her head smashed into the seat behind her and caused her vision to blur, but she forced herself to stay conscious.

A chorus of screams echoed behind her, adding to the pain in her head. She knew they were past the point of no return - there was literally no chance of having the chopper stabilize again - so she did the only thing she could think to do; she told everyone to brace themselves for impact. It was the last thing she remembered doing before she blacked out.

* * *

Emily Merchant was only vaguely aware of her surroundings as she wandered down one of the ARC's numerous corridors pretending to listen to James Lester. It was a skill she'd perfected over the years - first with her husband, then with Ethan, and now with her boss. She shook her head now and then as Lester spoke, no doubt trying to explain his decision to remove her from the team.

In all honesty, it wasn't so much the fact that she'd been replaced that bothered her; after all, she owed Lester a great deal for not turning her into the authorities as an unauthorized visitor from the past. It was just that she'd been replaced with someone _new._ Someone who'd had far less experience with the creatures than her, if any. If she was going to be replaced she damn well wanted it to be someone _worthy_ of replacing her.

"...and so I hope you can understand why all this has been necessary," she heard Lester said, finally cognizant of the fact that he was addressing her. She smiled politely and nodded, earning her one of Lester's incredulous looks that communicated more than any words could.

"I…" Lester said awkwardly, suddenly more serious. His abrupt change in tone almost spooked Emily. "I really am sorry about all this, Miss Merchant. You were there through Convergence… you have as much right to be on the core team as anyone. If I could have it any other way I would, but…"

"Politics," Emily finished, reading his mind. She knew better than most the strong grip that politics held on people. It was what had kept her subservient to her husband for so many years, what had almost caused her to stay in a time that she didn't belong… she knew all too well the power politics wielded. That didn't meant she had to like it.

Lester's sad eyes caught her attention, drawing her back to their conversation. "I know this is all rather sudden, but Team Three has been waiting to meet you for a week now. They're in Staff Quarters 4," Lester said, nodding towards the door in front of them that led to the wing of the ARC that housed the staff when they weren't out on assignments. "Are you comfortable meeting them now?" Lester asked. Emily shrugged, twisting her fingers around the handle and pushing the door open without another word.

She'd learned to be weary of doors long ago, what now felt like lifetimes. Travelling through the gateways always brought her somewhere new and exotic, to worlds she'd never dreamed of. Nothing ever stayed the same from place to place, save one thing: it was always dangerous. She knew enough now to have her guard up.

Emily absorbed her surroundings quickly as she passed over the threshold, knowing she'd only have a few moments to take it in before being accosted by new people. She knew the Staff Quarters well (she'd spent her fair share of time in them with the Core Team), so she focused her attention on the people in them.

There were four of them, sitting around a table playing cards and looking, for the most part, as if they were having fun. Seated closest to the door was a tall, muscular one, no doubt Team Three's leader. Her eyes moved clockwise around the small, circular table: two more men, both younger than the first, one no doubt the team's muscle and the other the team's brain. Finishing her loop, she saw a woman, probably a few years younger than Abby, fiddling nervously with her cards and twisting her orange hair.

As soon as they registered her presence all four of them were up, suddenly making the small room seem even smaller. Lester made a point of stepping in between the group and Emily, a fact that the former Victorian was glad of; in her experience, people rushing towards her usually ended in disaster.

"Emily Merchant, I'd like to introduce you to Team Three," Lester said. Emily extended her hand to the man she'd first noticed, locking eyes with him. He took her hand a shook it, a broad smile spreading across his face.

"Eric Reddington, nice to meet you," he said, his thick American accent taking her by surprise.

"Oh, you're…" Emily stammered. The nearly unshakable Victorian found herself suddenly quite shaken by this unexpected turn.

"American," Lester said, spitting out the word. Eric's smile simply grew in response. "Mr. Reddington came to the ARC as part of a cross cultural training program and never left," Lester explained.

"Nice to meet you as well," Emily said, her composure regained. "I assume you're team leader?"

"Yup," he said, finally releasing her hand and moving to introduce the other members of the team. "Here we've got Peter Jenkins, Alex Day, and Samantha Tales," Eric said, motioning to the other members of the team.

"Lovely to meet you," Peter said, taking her hand and kissing it grandly. "Animal behaviourist for Team Three. If you've got a reptile problem, I'm your dude," he said, talking more like a teenage boy than a highly specialized government employee.

"Tech specialist," Alex said awkwardly, looking as though he'd never once talked to a girl in his life. _Sort of like Connor 2.0,_ she thought, watching as he fidgeted with a gadget in his hands and looked nervously between Samantha, Lester, and herself. Finally Emily had mercy on him and shifted her attention towards the final member of the team.

"It's great to have you," Samantha said, brushing her fiery long hair out of her eyes and tying it back in a ponytail. "Tactical and Combat Specialist." Emily raised her eyebrows in surprise at this detail, not expecting this out of the smaller woman.

All in all the team could have been a lot worse, but Emily knew it would take some getting used to. After all, she'd spent enough time running through gateways to know that people aren't always what they seem.

"Well, now that we're all introduced…" Lester said, though his phone chimed then, interrupting him. He picked it up, annoyed.

"So, Emily, what was it like working with the Big Four?" Peter asked, inviting her to take a seat around the table with them. Lester grumbled angrily in the background as they talked.

"The Big Four?" she asked, clearly confused.

"Yeah," Samantha said, attempting to explain. "Connor Temple, Abby Maitland, Captain Becker, and Matt Anderson. They're sort of legends around here," she said. Emily would never show it, but she was slightly annoyed not to be included in Team Three's hero worship; after all, she'd been through just as much as any of those four had.

"I can't even imagine. Connor Temple is, like, my hero," Alex said, running his hand nervously through his short blonde hair.

"Guys, stop bugging the new girl with so many questions. I'm sure she thinks of joining our team as quite a step down from working with the Core Team," Eric said. Emily guessed her was trying to save her from some potential embarrassment having to answer their questions, but it only served to annoy her further. Before she could respond, however, Lester was hanging up the phone and barking orders at them.

"Incursion at the airport. The Core Team's gone through the anomaly and broken communication and Connor's under attack in an air traffic control tower. Get there before he crashes every plane in England, will you?" Lester said. Without a word the team was up and grabbing their gear.

"Stay close on this one. Could get dangerous," Eric said, throwing Emily a vest and EMD. She slipped it into her belt deftly, now even more annoyed; to think that she didn't want to talk was one thing, but to think that she can't do her job as well as them was another entirely.

"I'm quite sure I'm more than capable of handling it," she said, opting to leave it there and let them see what she could do in the field. After all, in three years of travelling through anomalies she'd found that actions often spoke far louder than words.

* * *

The first thing Abby noticed when she regained consciousness was the smell of gasoline. The second thing was the flaming debris dancing around right outside their crashed helicopter.

She fought the panic that was setting in, forcing herself to check her body over before jumping into action. She shifted her weight around, checking for broken bones or sprains. Miraculously everything was intact, though she knew from experience she'd feel like hell the next morning. She grabbed a shard of broken glass from beside her and sliced through her seat belt, freeing herself from the metal prison.

Swiveling her head back and forth she could see Matt and Ryan passed out on either side of her. The chopper had seemingly condensed on impact, meaning it would be far more difficult than she'd like to get out with them in the way… though the point might be moot if the wreckage exploded before she had a chance to figure her way out.

In front of her she could hear Becker and the pilot groaning, though a large sheet of metal blocked them from her view; yet another thing she'd have to deal with. With some effort she managed to sit up, slamming her head into a metal pipe that had broken free of the ceiling. She pushed it out of her way and gave herself some room to maneuver, though the whole thing was still a little claustrophobic.

Nervously, she checked Hunt and Matt's vitals. They were both alive, at least for the moment, though given the way it was twisted she could tell Matt's leg was almost definitely broken and his shoulder was dislocated. That did give her an idea…

With one swift move she wrenched his shoulder up and back, slamming it back into place. Matt woke up screaming, fighting against the seatbelt as his body registered the intense amount of trauma it had been through. Abby fought the urge to panic as she listened to him sob in pain next to her.

"Matt, are you alright?" she asked, already knowing the answer. He simply sobbed louder in response. "Look, Matt, I know you're hurt, but you have to try to climb out of here. There's gasoline all over and this whole thing's about to go up in flames. I can get everyone else out, but you have to go _now,"_ she urged. His head twisted to the side, red eyes locking with hers. He looked like hell.

"My leg…" he said. "It's..." _Dammit,_ Abby thought, _he's in shock._ That made her life about a thousand times more difficult.

"Matt, I know your leg is broken. You're in shock right now, but you have to go. Just get out of the helicopter and we'll fix it. It'll all be alright, but you have to get out of here," she said, talking slowly and forcefully. "Nod so I know you're getting this," she instructed. Abby knew he wouldn't be good for much, but she needed him to do this. He had to.

Finally he nodded, ripping at the seat belt until it came undone. He turned, rolling through the broken glass onto his knees. He screamed again as he felt the full pain of his broken leg being torn apart by glass shards. Finally he threw up, the smell of both it and the gasoline making Abby nauseous. She knew it wouldn't be long before she lost consciousness again.

A few agonizing moments later Matt was out, Abby scrambling through the tiny opening after him. He got to his feet, staggered a few yards away, and collapsed again. Abby just hoped it was far enough to keep him alive when the chopper blew.

Willing herself to keep going, Abby ran around to the other side of their defunct vehicle and cut off Ryan's seat belt. To her relief he had no obvious injuries, though she knew it was too soon to really tell. For all she knew he had a broken neck and moving him might kill him; then again, not moving him would _definitely_ kill him. She cleared as much glass out of the way as she could and pulled him out, the layer of blood coating her hands making the task rather difficult. She pulled him as far as she could before running back to help the others.

"Abby?" she heard someone call. She looked around wildly, going into defense mode before realizing it was Becker calling from inside the chopper.

"Becker?" she yelled, kneeling down next to the craft's windshield and clearing some mud away from it. She could see Becker and the pilot inside, both conscious but clearly a bit worse for the wear. "Are you two alright?" she asked.

"Just peachy," the pilot said, giving a weak smile. Abby motioned towards Becker, who gave her a solemn nod that told her something definitely wasn't alright.

"My hand is stuck," Becker said. Abby could see through the blood and mud on the windshield that it was caught between the two metal seats. She had an idea for how to get it out, though she knew he wouldn't like it.

"What's your name?" Abby asked the pilot. She knew they'd been introduced, but she couldn't remember now.

"Jo."

"Listen, Jo, is there anything hard in there? A flashlight or a rock or something?" Abby asked. Jo looked around for a moment, producing a rock that had flown through one of the side windows. It was about the size of her first, so it would have to do the job. "Listen, Jo, I need you to break Becker's hand. It's the only way to get it unstuck." Jo gave her a panicked look.

"What the hell? No way. I can't break somebody's hand."

"You have to. If you want to get him out of there alive you have to do this. This whole thing's about to explode," as she said it Abby snuck a look around the side and saw the flames creeping ever closer to the gas leak. "I'm gonna find something to break this window with so I can get you two out. You have to do this." With that Abby stood, running off into the tree line to find something that would do the job. A moment later she heard Becker's scream rip through the jungle. Jo had done it.

Abby returned with another rock and saw Becker crying and nursing his emaciated hand. Without another word she smashed the windshield to pieces, glass raining down on the two still left inside. Exhaustion overtook Abby as she helped Jo out, the two women pulling Becker to safety a moment later.

She collapsed against a tree trunk next to Jo, vaguely registering the sound of an explosion and an intense heat before she lost consciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Notes:_

 _Hey guys! So I'm SUPER sorry that it took so long to get this chapter up. There are two reasons: first off, last week was my birthday, so yay! I was really busy celebrating and seeing family so I haven't had time to edit this as thoroughly as I wanted to until now. Secondly, I started watching_ Sense8 _on Netflix and got IMMEDIATELY ADDICTED._ _If you haven't started watching it yet I suggest you finish this chapter and then binge watch the whole thing. Seriously amazing. Also, if you have watched it let me know in the comments or a personal message so I can geek out over it with you._

 _Anyways, here, at long last, is chapter 4. Only two more after this until Episode 1 is complete!_

* * *

Primeval

Eric Reddington couldn't resist stealing a glance at the woman beside him as he drove to Heathrow, taking in as much about her as he could in their first silent moment together. Sam, Alex, and Peter were all in the back seat muttering to each other about their most recent incursion, which left Eric and Emily to talk alone.

"So…" Eric said, already off to an awkward start. "It's fine if you don't want to talk about it, but just what happened to get you demoted from the Core Team to Team Three?" The question sounded a lot meaner than he intended it to, but there really wasn't a way to put it nicely. If her face wasn't so damn hard to read…

"Someone new came. Evidently they decided I was the least valuable team member," Emily responded, staring straight out the front window and speaking dispassionately. Eric slowed the car as they passed through the open gates of the airport and pulled onto the tarmac. He smirked a little at all the officials fussing here and there to keep the area secure; usually Team Three got handed the really boring anomalies.

"Well for what it's worth, I'm glad to have you," he said. Emily nodded at him and, though he knew he could never _really_ know what it meant, he liked to imagine it was a grudging sign of respect… or at least acceptance. He killed the ignition and swung open the door cavalierly, his ears meeting a chorus of shouts and screams.

"What the hell…" Peter questioned, pointing to the air traffic control tower off to their left. Eric followed his gaze to see a giant prehistoric bird… thing ripping at the roof. It appeared as though half had caved in already and the other part wouldn't last long.

"If I know Connor, that's where he'll be," Emily said, charging up her EMD and marching off towards the tower without waiting for Eric's command. He shook his head and ran after her, grabbing her arm to stop her.

"On this team we like to talk through things before we run off," he said gruffly, his friendly tone disappearing.

"Listen, Mr. Reddington, my friend is up there… dead for all I know. I'm not waiting to go help him," she said, shaking off his arm. He growled again, running off after her. "Sam, we're gonna need something stronger to take this thing down. Peter and Alex, get our communication with the Core Team back up!" Eric shouted behind him as he and Emily ran towards the control tower.

As they ran, Jess' voice broke through over comms. "Eric, have we restored communications with the Core Team yet?"

"Uh, Peter and Alex are on it. We've got sort of a… uh… bigger issue on our hands," as he said it he had to leap to his side to avoid a piece of shrapnel that the bird creature had thrown off the roof. "What the hell is that thing?" Eric asked Emily, ignoring Jess for the moment.

"Terrateladont. We figured they were somewhere in the evolution between a pterodactyl and modern bird," Emily explained, pointing out the enormous creature's wings, which were six feet long each and were covered in feathers.

"Who's 'we'?" Eric asked. He'd read through all of the ARC field reports and never had any of the teams encountered a creature like the one they were facing down now. Emily's face contorted in a mixture of pain and determination.

"It's a long story," she said noncommittally. Before Eric could press the matter further they were at the door to the control tower. He smashed the handle with his gun and it broke off, the door swinging in. "Graceful…" she said, pushing through the door and hitting the stairs in a run.

The run up the flights of stairs left them breathless, a fact that Eric was sure Emily was glad of. He wanted so badly to like her, but he couldn't help but suspect she was keeping things from him… and he wouldn't stop until he found out what.

For now, however, it would have to wait, because he and his new team member had just arrived at the top of the stairwell. They were standing on a small landing with a ladder on it. His eyes followed the ladder up and saw a small rectangular hatch in the ceiling; he guessed this was the entrance to the control tower operations room.

Emily wasted no time, climbing the first few rungs of the ladder and slamming her fist into the panel. "Connor! Are you in there?" Emily said. She shared a nervous glance with Eric. He waited for a response, really not wanting to have to watch her beat down a door… well, another door.

A few tense moments passed before Jess''s voice cut in through the comms again. "Eric? Emily? What's happening out there? Give me something!"

"Jess, this thing's called a Terrateledont. Huge bird-like creature. I estimate its wingspan at about 12 feet total. Partially covered in feathers."

"How's Connor?" Jess asked. Even over comms Eric could hear her fingers smashing the information into the computer she was almost surely seated in front of.

"I've been better!"

Eric and Emily shared a confused glance as Connor's voice buzzed in over comms. He sounded rattled, but unharmed.

"Connor! Are you alright?" Emily asked, her tone shifting slightly. Eric took note; that's how she sounded when she cared about someone.

"We're fine… but if you wanted to get us out of here that'd be great." From above them Eric and Emily heard the sound of the creature shrieking and metal being torn away.

"We need to get in there now," Emily said. Eric was about to respond when they heard someone else pounding up the staircase. A moment later Sam came into view carrying an almost comically large gun and a small metallic box that Eric didn't recognize.

"I think I can help with that," Sam said, flashing her winning smile and tousling her fiery red ponytail. Emily leapt down off the ladder, catching Eric's shoulder for support; to his knowledge, that was the first time the two had actually touched. It was… odd.

"What are those things, Sam?" Eric asked, pointing to the two objects in her hands. She raised the gun up first.

"This is for the creature. Modified EMD. If I'm right it'll shoot a blast of microscopic electromagnets. The polarity should bind them together at a distance, but not with enough strength to pull them all together."

"So it's like an EMD net?" Emily asked.

"Exactly." She handed it off to Eric and raised the small box in her other hand. "This is just a glorified skeleton key. It should get us up into that control room." Without another word she climbed up the first few rungs of the ladder and attached it to the panel. Eric waited impatiently until finally they all heard the faint "ding" that signalled the lock had been undone.

"After you," Sam said, motioning to Eric. He handed the gun back to her and she tucked the key back into her bag.

"Alright you two, be careful. We don't know what we're going to see up there and - " Eric's planned inspirational speech was cut short by Connor's scream. "Nevermind. Let's just do this thing." He caught Emily's amused smile as he leapt onto the ladder and crawled up into the control tower.

"Watch out!" Eric found his world turning in circles as soon as he climbed through the hatch when something hit him from the side and sent him flying across the room. He smashed into the wall a moment later, his vision slowly returning to normal… just in time to see another piece of debris flying at him. He grunted and rolled to the side, the object barely missing him.

His heart pounded as he took in the scene in front of him, one eye still watching for anything else he might have to run away from. A shelf lined the room on all sides with various computers and monitoring devices on them. He spotted Connor and another man - he guessed it was someone who worked for the airport - hiding underneath that shelf. A large section of the tower had been torn away, leaving only about one half of the room with a roof. If one wasn't careful it'd be easy to fall out the other side.

"Connor, get him out of here," Eric's attention drifted to the hatch in the floor, through which Emily and Sam were climbing. Emily was shouting orders at Connor, who grabbed the hand of the younger-looking employee and began pulling him towards the hatch. Emily held her EMD ready, watching vigilantly out the side of the tower that had been torn away… which, unfortunately, meant that she couldn't react fast enough when the creature tore through the wall behind her.

Eric watched in shock as Sam grabbed Emily's ankle and knocked the girl to the ground, the Terreteledont's teeth missing her by just inches. The beast's talon managed to sink into Connor, throwing him and the other man across the room. Eric watched out the exposed side as the creature did a loop in the air and circled back towards the tower.

"Everybody out now!" Eric shouted, leaping to his feet and assessing himself for any injuries. He was fine - at least, he was fine enough. "Sam, have you got that device ready?" He watched as she flipped a switch on what Emily had referred to as the EMD net.

"Ready," she said, staring out the side of the tower. Eric followed her gaze and was horrified to see that the creature was no longer in sight.

"What the hell…" he asked, sharing nervous glances with the other members of his team. Suddenly the tower began to shake as they heard a deafening shriek and the sound of tearing metal.

"It went…" Emily began.

"Under us," Eric finished. "Damn thing is bringing the whole tower down." He could feel the ground beneath him beginning to shift even as he said the words. They needed to get everyone out of there before there was no tower left to get them out of.

"Connor, go!" Emily shouted. Connor pushed the young man - Eric thought his name tag looked like it said Nate - towards the hole, but before they could reach it the entire tower lurched violently. It tipped towards the left, the floor lifting up to become the wall and vice versa. Eric watched as the earth tipped around him, desperately grabbing for something to hang on to.

He didn't find it. Instead he flew back, falling across the room and slamming into the glass panelling. He heard a sickening crack. His stomach lurched. He threw up. The world finally stopped spinning and he took in the damage.

"Everyone alright?" he asked, looking around the lopsided room.

"Fine," he heard Sam and Emily say in unison. Sam was hanging safely above him, her hands having managed to find the hole in the floor and grab onto it - at least she'd be able to make it out safely. Emily was off towards the left, lying against one of the control panels that was mounted to the wall.

"Temple?" Eric asked.

"I'm… alright, mate," Connor sounded like he might be on the verge of tears. Eric's eyes swiveled around in his head until he found Connor lying on the glass panel next to him. "Nate… the, the guy… he, uh, didn't make it. He's gone."

"Shit," Eric said, wanting to slam his fist against something but unable to because before he had time to react the glass underneath him was breaking and he was falling through space.

* * *

Ryan Hunt had learned, during a rather unfortunate kidnapping situation years before, that you should always keep your eyes closed when you first wake up; it was a skill that had come in handy many times over the years, saving his life on more than one occasion… Still, when he woke up with his head pounding like he'd downed seventeen margaritas the night before all his training went out the window.

Above him on either side he saw chairs rising up from the ground and a curved roof about ten feet over his head. He was lying on his back, and as he swiveled his head slightly he saw the pilot - Jo - and Captain Becker - nursing what looked like a severely broken hand - standing over him.

"Don't try to move," Becker said, wincing slightly. "We don't know the state of your spine just yet." Ryan cocked an eyebrow at him and sat up - he knew well enough what a spinal injury felt like and he decidedly didn't have one. What he _did_ have was a massively bad headache and only patchy memories of what was going on.

"I'm fine. Just get me some damn Advil and tell me what happened. We… crashed, right?" Hunt asked. A woman beside him fished some painkillers out of her purse and handed them to him. He smashed the cap off and downed a few, waiting for someone to explain.

"We crashed and the chopper exploded," Jo said, filling him in on what he'd missed. "Abby got us all to safety before she passed out. Some of the passengers from this flight found us a few minutes later and got us to safety… or, at least, out of the exposed jungle. We're in the plane now."

"I guess we can thank them for that," Ryan said gruffly. "Now where's the rest of our team? Don't tell me they got eaten."

"We're alright." Hunt craned his neck around and saw Abby walking down the aisle towards him looking relatively healthy considering she'd just literally fallen out of the sky and been in an explosion. "Matt's leg is broken and Becker's hand is trashed, but we're all alive and in one piece," she said. Hunt could tell from the way she was speaking - the cold, detached, almost clinical tone - that this wasn't her first jungle survival trauma.

"Great," Hunt said. All things considered, really, the whole situation could be a hell of a lot worse. "And what's the status of this plane?"

"Actually pretty decent," Jo said. Finally some good news. "The pilots landed it safely."

"And where are they now?" Hunt asked, sensing bad news ahead.

"They took a small group to go get help." Hunt's attention turned to another passenger who'd suddenly taken over explaining the story.

"And they're not back yet?"

"No. They left about an hour ago," the passenger said, sharing a nervous glance with the man seated next to him. "Is that bad?"

"With our luck?" Abby said, matter-of-factly. "Probably."

"Thanks for the support," Hunt retorted, turning his attention to problems he _could_ solve. "Jo, if we don't get the pilots back... can you fly this plane?" Jo's face seemed to turn a sickly shade of green as she considered the possibility.

"May… maybe? If it's fully operational…"

"Jo, I need to know if you can do this. One way or the other, I need an honest answer." Jo shared an almost imperceptible glance with Becker - Hunt made a mental note to keep on an eye on those two - before responding.

"Yeah, I can do it." Without another word she turned and entered the cockpit.

"Perfect. Now we'll just have to wait and see what disaster comes next," he said, trying to add an element of comedy to the situation. It wasn't too successful.

"I can't just sit around here waiting for bad news. I'm going to find the group that left," Abby said, throwing a wrench into the peace that Hunt had been feeling.

"Miss Maitland, I can't allow you to do that. Those men left of their own accord and -"

"Those men have no idea what's happened to them, where they are or even _when_ they are. I'm not just going to leave them out there to die if I can help it!" Abby shouted. Hunt could practically feel his blood pressure rising. No wonder Lester seemed so stressed out all the time.

He locked eyes with Abby for a long moment, waiting for one of them to back down, for one of them to blink; but he had worse injuries and Abby had five years of experience on him, so he knew the battle was over before it had begun. "Fine," he conceded, noticing Abby's slight smirk. "One hour. You've got one hour to find them and get them back here or we're leaving them behind… and you too if need be." Hunt registered surprise on everyone's faces at this comment, especially his own. He hadn't been planning to say it but, well, there it was.

"Fine. See you in an hour." Abby heaved the door open with a grunt and slid out of the craft, disappearing into the jungle beyond.

"Well," Hunt said, rubbing his hands together nervously and looking at Becker. "This is going roughly as well as I expected it to."

* * *

Over the years Abigail Maitland had gotten used to being alone; as a child she'd often had to play games by herself when none of the other kids would play with her. Even into adulthood she'd been a bit of a loner, preferring animals over people and acting a bit stand-offish with other humans… until she met Connor Temple.

It was funny, she thought, the connections people made between two things. Like how she had this toaster at her house that her aunt had given her after a house fire, and now whenever she made toast she thought of insurance claims. Or how Rex's cage had been stolen once and she now associated cages with chasing down a robber on a bicycle. Or how being alone in a dangerous jungle made her think of Connor because they'd spent a year trapped in one together.

Abby had always prided herself on being strong, but as she exited the clearing and disappeared into the jungle, out of sight of the airplane, she felt more profoundly alone and afraid than she had in a long time… probably because, for the last five years at least, she'd always had Connor there to back her up. Connor made sure she was never alone.

"I wonder what he's doing right now…" Abby said to herself as she pushed large palm leaves out of her way and scanned to her left. Her head was always swiveling, always moving and checking for dangers. A year in the cretaceous had taught her that you really could never be too careful… which made it especially ironic when something leapt through the trees at her right and tackled her to the ground.

Instinctively, and it was only due to her years of working with predators, her right hand snapped up in front of her and wrapped around the snout of whatever creature was attacking her, effectively locking its jaw shut. Having it right on top of her made it difficult to get a good idea of the size, but she guessed from the pressure on her legs it was at least six feet long and over 400 pounds.

Her left hand searched the ground at her side, her fingers finally wrapping around a rock. She brought it up with as much force as she could muster into the head of the beast, a snarl answering her attack. It seemed to weaken a bit, giving Abby enough leverage to wrench her leg out and throw it off of her. She rolled to the side, pushed herself onto her knees, wobbled back to a standing position, and took off running. She could hear the creature regrouping and starting to chase her, the telltale sound of grass being crushed by massive feet growing uncomfortably loud. she risked a glance back; a second later she wished she hadn't.

Abby couldn't be sure, but it looked to her that the creature was an Epicyon: a prehistoric wolf that was about three times bigger than any currently living and about one hundred times more vicious… and could run about twelve times faster than Abby could. She knew in that moment that she wouldn't be able to outrun it, at least not once it had fully regained its senses after Abby's attack. She only had a minute or two to figure something out…

It was moments like that that made Abby wish Connor was there. He was a goofball, but he always came through in a pinch. She had no doubt if he was there he'd have already created some sort of device to immobilize the creature with palm leaves and a coconut or something… something clever that Abby could never think of.

But then, of course, Connor wasn't there, and Abby wouldn't be able to solve it his way; she didn't have his skill set so she'd have to rely on her own.

Abby's mind raced back through every class on predatory behaviour she'd ever taken: make yourself big, travel in a pack, find something to scare them… No, that wasn't it. You shouldn't try to scare them, you should show them that you're not scared.

 _Damn._ Abby remembered too late that you weren't supposed to run from a wolf. You had to show them that you were the alpha, that you could take them on if you had to. It was all about having the illusion of power. Suddenly Abby knew what she had to do.

She sprang up as she passed under the next tree in her path, pulling off the biggest branch she could manage. Landing and spinning quickly on her heels Abby brought the branch around, watching as it connected squarely with the Epicyon's jaw. It howled as it fell to the side, looking more annoyed than ever… which was ok, because now Abby could reassert and change the balance of the relationship.

 _Don't make eye contact,_ she remembered, looking at the creature's ear and standing up as straight as possible. It stared her down, looking for any perceived weaknesses, any place to attack, but it appeared not to find any. And so it continued to stare, and so did Abby, and all that remained was to see who blinked first.


	5. Chapter 5

Primeval

 _ **Author's Notes:**_

 _Hey guys! Again, sorry it's literally been a month since I updated this story. At this rate the entirety of Series 6 could take forever! That said, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. There's just one more to this story before episode 2 starts up, so please please please stick with me and I promise it'll all be worth while. As always, let me know what you think in the comments!_

* * *

Connor watched in stunned silence as the leader of Team Three tumbled from the tower in a spray of glass, and before his mind knew what he was doing he rolled to the side, grabbing Reddington's hand and reaching with his own free one to find something to anchor them. His fingers wrapped around a loose piece of thick, black cable that had formerly been connected to one of the large monitors and held on.

For a moment, the entire tower was still; Emily and the other woman were staring at Connor and Connor was staring at his own hand and Eric was staring below him at the fifty foot drop that he almost had to endure. For a moment, there was only silence… until the screeching of the Terrateledont filled their ears and reanimated the scene.

"Not to be ungrateful," Eric said, hanging from Connor's fingertips. "But could you pull me up before that thing eats me?" Eric pointed with his free hand and Connor followed it, seeing the creature soaring through the air towards Reddington with its jaws primed to munch down on him. Connor helped him up through the glass and shared a knowing, manly nod with him as the creature passed under them.

"All things considered, that could have gone worse," the other woman - Sam - said, offering a hand to Connor. She pulled him up through the hatch in the floor and he watched as the rest of Team Three fell through the small opening. Finally the four descended the tower to meet up with the rest of Reddington's team and Connor had a chance to talk to Emily.

"So…" he began awkwardly. "How're things on Team Three?" he asked. It occurred to him now that he and Emily had never been all that close before. He'd long ago accepted her as a part of the team, but apart from missions they talked very little personally… a fact that was becoming painfully obvious as he stumbled through trying to make sure she was alright.

"I'm alright, Connor. Thank you for worrying for me but I'm perfectly capable of handling myself," she said harshly. Connor met her eyes and thought to himself that he might be sadder about her demotion than she was. After a moment of looking at each other her features seemed to soften, perhaps realizing her own rudeness. She grabbed his arm and stopped him, letting the other two get a little further ahead. "I just mean that I'll survive; I always have. But for what it's worth, knowing you have my back makes surviving a little easier." It was, perhaps, the most Emily Merchant had ever said to him. Connor knew her as a woman of few words, so to hear her speak so candidly was… odd. Hopeful, but also off-putting.

Luckily, Connor didn't have much time to consider the ramifications of a growing friendship with the former Victorian before they had reached the ground floor and were exiting the derelict tower into the asphalt parking lot. Two other boys ran up to them, the short, blonde one going slack-jawed at the sight of Connor.

"Oh my God, you're Connor Temple," he said in awe. Connor looked him up and down for a moment, flashing back to a time when he would have acted much the same way when confronted with one of his heroes. Finally Connor spoke.

"Yeah, nice to meet you mate. Let's chat later though once we're not about to be-"

"Eaten?" Eric finished sarcastically. Connor nodded and the group's attention switched to Sam, who was brandishing an impressively large gun that appeared to be an updated EMD of some kind.

"Did you make that?" Connor asked, motioning towards the gun.

"We did," the blonde one spoke up, moving his fingers between himself and Sam. "I'm Alex, by the way. Big fan."

"Embarrass yourself later, when we're not all about to die," Sam interjected, handing the gun off to Connor. "It fires a… what did Emily call it? An EMD net, basically," she explained, showing Connor the trigger mechanism.

"Seems simple enough," he answered, hoisting it up and doing his best Rambo impersonation... which, come to think of it, was a film Emily really should see.

"When we get through this, are you lot up for a movie?"

" _If_ we get through this, I'm up for a couple of beers," Eric said with a slight smile. "Now, getting back to the matter of the giant death-bird terrorizing the airport…"

"Right," Connor said, suddenly getting more serious. "Terrateledont. Nasty creature, as we've discovered. I'm guessing it's cold-blooded, and coming from a much warmer time period-"

"It'll be searching for a large heat source," Emily finished, sharing a glance with Connor.

"Exactly. So what's near here that can produce enough heat to warm a creature of that size?"

"Oh my God…" Alex said, realization and panic spreading across his young face. "The power plant. What's gonna be hotter than that?"

"Great," Connor said. "If it blows the plant then all the power in the city goes out and countless people die. No pressure."

* * *

"Jo? How's the plane coming along?" Matt had a broken leg, a cracked rib, and a damn awful headache. To top it all off, he was trapped with all those injuries on a passenger plane some time in the past with a new team leader and a civilian chopper pilot who liked like she was nineteen as their only hope of escape. Needless to say, he'd had better days.

"Fine. But it'd be going better if you'd stop asking me every fifteen seconds," she remarked, balancing her feet on the captain's chair and examining the wiring in the roof of the cockpit. She'd been at it for an hour - Abby had been gone for an hour! - and little progress seemed to have been made. Matt sat in the co-pilots chair with Hunt standing over him trying to bandage his leg.

"Stop moving so much. You're making this harder than it has to be," Hunt complained as Matt swiveled in his chair.

"He's really good at that," Becker quipped, walking into the cockpit with what appeared to be a toolkit. "I found this in the back… thought it might be helpful." Jo poked her head down and her face lit up at the sight. She grabbed the kit from Becker and opened it.

"Perfect! Now I can patch the wiring and hopefully reroute the backup power to the engines so we can get this thing airborne again. Then we'll just need to…" Matt allowed Jo's voice to fade from his ears as Hunt worked on his leg, and soon enough Jo and Becker had fallen into a steady rhythm of conversation and Hunt and Matt had fallen into an uncomfortable silence.

"Look," Hunt said, after what felt like three years of sitting in that chair. "I didn't mean to come in here and take your job and get your girlfriend kicked off."

"She's _not_ my girlfriend," Matt asserted. Truthfully, he didn't know what he and Emily were. It was one of a million questions about his personal life he hadn't had time to sort out in between trips to the past and near death experiences and doomsday professing clones.

"Fine. Well, regardless, I never meant to get her kicked off - or to get us all trapped in the past. The truth is, I'm learning this as I go."

"Well, if Lester had put you through more training for these situations than perhaps we wouldn't be caught in this mess." Hunt gave him a stern look, twisting the bandage tighter and making Matt wince. He continued to speak, ignoring both Matt's words and his pain.

"That said: I _am_ in charge of this team now and you _will_ respect my authority. I know very well who you are, Matt Anderson, and what kinds of secrets you kept from the ARC. Something tells me you're on thin ice with the minister and a few bad words from the new team leader could get you in even hotter water." Again, he tightened the bandage. "I just want to make sure we're clear on this before we go back."

"Yeah, we're clear," Matt responded, deflated and in pain and trying desperately to pretend his ego hadn't been maimed so mercilessly.

"Good," Hunt said with a grin. He stood, patted Matt on the head and ruffled his hair like a child, and then left the cockpit. Matt boiled with rage and he slammed his fist in the armrest, which only served to upset his rib.

"You alright, mate?" Becker asked. Jo had transitioned from working on the ceiling to working on the pilot's instruments, and Matt watched absentmindedly as she strung a new piece of wire behind a panel.

"Yeah… just getting used to how things are going to be."

"Look, for what it's worth, I hate change as much as you do. You want me to 'accidentally' shoot Hunt with an EMD?" Matt smiled despite himself at this; at least he still had the team on his side, even if the rest of the ARC was against him.

"No. It's fine. I just need… time." Becker placed his hand on Matt's shoulder and for a moment the cockpit was silent, until Jo's high-pitched shout echoed through the cabin.

"Got it!" In a flash the engines roared to life and the instruments perked up, needles moving this way and that and lights flashing on and off.

"Oh my god… What about Abby?"

* * *

Abby judged it had been about forty minutes since she'd left the plane behind.

The situation with the Epicyon had lasted only a few tense moments before it had backed off and left her alone. She'd survived, in all honestly, with only a few injuries, though she knew well enough that it was only because of her extensive training with animals. The group that had left the plane most likely wouldn't be so lucky if they encountered the same creatures.

That, and the lateness of the hour, presented her with a whole new set of problems.

 _Time to go back, Abby,_ she thought to herself, looking at the sun and peering back at the path of broken tree branches and displaced rocks she'd left to mark the trail. She'd learned well enough during her year in the cretaceous to leave inconspicuous clues to bring herself back to camp. This time, it just happened, camp was a displaced airplane.

As she moved beneath a low-hanging branch and swatted a fly away from her ear, something came into view that looked decidedly out of place in the distant past. She stepped out from behind the tree and into a large clearing, at the center of which was a… a building. It looked to Abby like a military compound of some kind. Was it something the ARC had worked up? And if so, why wasn't she told about it? She moved closer, checking the ground in front of her for land mines and finding none. She supposed that whoever was operating out here - out of time as they were - wouldn't be expecting many visitors.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket - the screen had been destroyed in the crash, but she knew Connor could still get something off of it - and started to snap some pictures. Moving around the side of the compound she found an open garage with several military Jeeps and a tank inside. _What the hell…_ she thought, snapping pictures and, against her better judgement, moving into the garage.

On the side of the Jeeps a strange symbol had been painted. It looked to Abby like some kind of bird creature, and in its jaws it was clutching a machine gun. A little ostentatious, perhaps, but certainly provocative. She took a picture and then returned her phone to her pocket. As she moved further into the garage she came upon a large, metal door with that same symbol on it.

 _You've come this far,_ she thought. She tried the handle and the door swung open into a large, empty hallway that looked more like it should be in some future time than the distant past. She entered and shut the door behind her, and a moment later she heard the garage door outside shutting. Someone must just have left before she'd arrived and now it was closing automatically… or someone was just returning and doing it themselves.

Abby had just made up her mind to get the hell out of there when she heard someone shouting for help. She stopped in her tracks, and though she attempted to fairly weigh her options she already knew in her heart what she would do. She pushed farther on into the compound, towards where the shouts were coming from.

"Anybody home?" she asked playfully, rounding corner after corner until she finally hit a staircase that led her to a basement level. Her fingers gripped the cool metal railing and for the first time she was aware of how violently she was shaking. Perhaps she was more nervous than she'd allow even herself to believe.

"We're here! Let us out!" The shouting was clearer now, and as Abby stepped off the final stair onto the poured concrete floor she saw four men in a cage across the room. Abby judged it, from one glance, to be an animal cage that had been converted to a prison once these men had been taken.

Two of the men in the cage were wearing tattered white clothes and hats; the pilots. The other two were young men in plainclothes; the idiots who'd volunteered to go looking for help. Abby rolled her eyes as she scanned the room for keys, her eyes finally landing on a hook on the far wall. Bingo.

She snatched them off the hook, motioning for the men to be silent as she did so. A moment later the cage door swung open and the four piled out, thanking her profusely.

"Look, you're welcome, now shut up or they'll put you right back in there," Abby said, pushing them impatiently into a line behind her, like a mother duck getting her chicks in order, before moving to lead them out of the compound.

 _Well, Maitland, not bad all things considered. Though I do wish I knew what the hell was going on in this place…_ she thought. She poked her head out of the doorway to the basement and saw that no one was around. Lucky. Maybe too lucky.

As Abby scanned the hallway one last time a panel in the wall opposite her opened - surprise! - and three soldiers burst out, guns in hand. They grabbed Abby and forced her to the floor, grasping at her hands and forcing them behind her. She snapped her legs back and managed to throw her attacker off, and as she did so she saw on his shoulder that same strange mark from the Jeeps. Good to know where his allegiances were, at the very least.

She scrambled to her feet and kicked him in the jaw, lurching over him to grab at his gun. The four prisoners were taking care of the other two guards… at least as long as they didn't get killed in the process. But right now Abby couldn't baby sit all of them - not when the one she was fighting had just pulled a knife out of his boot and sliced a gash in her arm. That'd be two scars she'd gotten that day.

She elbowed him in the nose and heard a sickening crack. He stumbled backwards into the wall and fumbled for something in his belt. As he did so Abby landed a kick to the stomach and knocked the air out of him. She was about to go for the finishing blow when he found what he was looking for - a pistol. He took quick aim at Abby and she was cursing herself for not listening to Matt's self-defense seminar more carefully and preparing to be shot to death in a damn prehistoric jungle when another man emerged from the basement shot the soldier. He crumpled to the ground and the gun fell from his hand, and Abby turned around to see that it was Matt that had saved her. Matt, who had a broken arm and was on the plane a few miles away with a broken leg and a cracked rib, was somehow here, somehow in perfect health, and had somehow just saved her life. _What. The. Hell._

"Matt!?" she shouted, somehow more annoyed than relieved. "What the hell are you doing here? _How_ are you here?" she demanded. The four other men looked awkwardly between Abby and Matt.

"Look, Abby, someday I'll explain. Just get these idiots back to the plane and get the hell out of the past. Oh, and when you mention this to me back on that plane, I won't remember any of it, so just… don't worry about it for now." Abby's jaw dropped as Matt turned and disappeared down the stairwell. She ran to follow him, but when she got there he was gone. Almost as if into thin air.

 _Whatever,_ she thought. After six years at this there was little that surprised her anymore, and right now she had a job to do. Whatever that whole business had been, she'd sort it out later… although in the back of her mind she was remembering that there was _a lot_ she had to sort out later.


	6. Chapter 6

Primeval

 ** _Author's Notes:_**

 _Here we are in the final chapter of Episode 1! If you're still sticking with this, thanks for sticking with this! I've got episode 2 nearly completed and ready to post, so if this story gets a positive response at finish I'll put that one up and then finish up all of Series 6! So seriously review review review - I love nothing more, and I love you guys!_

* * *

"Okay. Find the creature, close the anomaly, save the city. We totally got this," Connor said as Eric drove crazily through downtown London. He was crammed in the backseat between Alex, Peter, and Sam while Emily sat up front next to Eric looking out the window and tracking the creature.

"We've had worse before," Emily said, and Connor could have sworn she was smiling despite herself… until Alex spoke up.

"We haven't," he said. Sam elbowed him in the ribs and Emily's smile faltered a little bit as she thought back on how she'd been so unceremoniously demoted. Connor tried to get things back on track.

"How close are we getting? We're only going to have one shot at taking it down," Connor said. He looked at Sam, who held out the EMD Net Launcher. He looked it over and turned a few of the dials. "Looks good. Can you take it down?" Sam nodded and took it back from her.

"Alright, here's the plan," Eric said from the front seat, barely missing hitting the side of an SUV. "Sam and I will take down the creature. Emily, you and Peter need to get everyone in the plant out safely. Connor and Alex, you're going to do what you two do best: be the bait." Emily couldn't help but giggle at this, and Connor gave her shoulder a punch between the seats.

"Oi, why am I always the bait?" Alex asked. Connor had learned by not not to ask that question anymore.

Without warning Eric wrenched the wheel sharply to the left and turned down a side street, slamming on the accelerator as they flew down the road in pursuit of the creature. He screeched to a stop in front of a high metal fence and everyone quickly piled out, catching a glimpse of the creature as it descended onto the roof of the building and began trying to tear it apart.

"If it reaches the reactor it's game over," Connor said.

"Well then don't let it reach the reactor," Eric cut in. He pulled a pair of large metal cutters out of the backseat and snapped the lock on the fence. They were in. "Everyone got their assignments?"

"Roger, dodger," Alex said, and Connor almost died of secondhand embarrassment. Hard to believe that he'd been just the same only a few short years ago.

Eric kicked the fence in and the six ran through, branching off into their teams of two. Connor led Alex around the side of the facility to where a ladder ran up the outer wall straight to the roof. _Bait,_ he thought. _I'm always the bait._ Alex came up after him and soon enough they were rolling over the side of the roof… straight into the Terreteledont's jaws. Connor kicked it in the head hard enough for him to be able to escape, and he and Alex scrambled to the opposite side of the roof. He'd forgotten how much he hated being bait.

* * *

"Everybody out!" Emily shouted. She and Peter ran into the control room of the power plant, a dozen bewildered scientists and engineers looking up at them. None of them moved to leave.

"Look, a prehistoric sky beast is about to rain hell down on this place, so either you go or you die!" Peter yelled. Emily gave him a stern look, but it did the trick; they all started to pack up. Emily noted that the one positive of having the anomalies as common knowledge was that no one looked at you like you were crazy when you said you were under attack from a "prehistoric sky beast".

"You're from the ARC?" a young woman in a lab coat asked. She was about six inches shorter than Emily, though her four inch heels made up much of the difference. Not practical, Emily thought, but fashionable for the day and age.

"Yes, and since we'd like to be alive to do our jobs we'd love it if everyone got out of here now," Peter said, impatient. He brandished his EMD at her, though it seemed to do little to intimidate her. She continued talking to Emily as though nothing had changed.

"I can't leave until I've diverted the power to our auxiliary station. If there's a chance this place could blow I can't go knowing that people are going to die because of it."

"Auxiliary station?"

"A second generator that's off site. We can't afford to lose all power in the city, so we have it ready to boot up just in case." Emily looked nervously at the ceiling. She could hear the creature banging around on top of it… hear the metal creaking and starting to give way.

"It's too risky. We can't waste the time. It's my job to get you safely out of here."

"Look, I have a son at home whose father died a year ago. I'm not going to leave him an orphan, but I'm also not going to leave this city to fall into chaos. I have to do this." Emily considered for a moment.

"How long will it take?"

"Give me three minutes."

"You've got two."

* * *

Sam was finding it difficult to get a clean shot at the thing… though the way it was bouncing around, one could hardly blame her. Still, Eric's foot tapping in the background was sending the clear message that she'd better do something soon or the whole damn mess would be blamed on her.

"Could you just give me a second?" she snapped at her boss, surprising him. He stopped tapping momentarily as she lined up another shot. The net launcher only had two shots at a time… not a lot of room for error. She stood next to Eric on the roof of their truck, meaning she was making the shot at a hundred yards. Not impossible, but not easy either. Finally, as Connor scampered across the roof, barely evading the creature's jaws, she took the first shot.

It hit Alex.

"Shit," she cursed, hoping Eric hadn't seen. He had.

"You'll be paying the medical bill."

"Oh, shut up." She refocused, watching as the creature began to flap its wings.

"Not to alarm you, but it looks like it's getting ready to make a getaway." Sam knew it was now or never… she just didn't know how much more damage would be done if it _was_ "never".

* * *

"How much more time?" Dr. Isabelle Grayson had been through a lot during her time at the power plant, but a devil bird from the past was certainly a new one. She punched a few more buttons before answering the impatient ARC employee behind her.

"Fifteen seconds." True to her word, Dr. Grayson smashed the last button down and turned the dial that would switch over power to the backup generator a mile down the road. The lights began to flicker as the power was diverted to the fiber optic cables running between the two sites, transferring the computer data. "Done."

"Then let's get the hell out of here," Emily said. She grabbed Isabelle by the arm and the three ran for their lives.

* * *

Connor pulled Alex to his feet as the great creature began to rise into the air, the wind from its wings threatening to blow him off the room. He looked between the best, Alex, and Sam, peering at the latter just in time to see her pull the trigger on her EMD Launcher for the second time. He watched nervously as it arced through the air. The creature bellowed one final time as the net ensnared it, the electric pulse shocking the creature into submission. Connor breathed a sigh of relief as it tumbled back onto the roof, landing with a thud that made the whole building shake… and the roof begin to crack.

"Time to go," Connor said, heaving Alex over his shoulder - he honestly hadn't known he was quite that strong - and looking for an exit. Typical of Connor's life, there wasn't one. "Oh, God help me," he said as he looked over the edge. The very ground beneath him falling away, Connor pushed Alex over the edge of the roof and jumped after him. The last thing he remembered was the ground rushing up to smash him in the face.

* * *

Eric watched in horror as Connor and Alex tumbled over the side of the building, landing in the grass thirty feet below. He ran to help them, though the sound of breaking glass and metal stopped him in his tracks. The creature wasn't on the roof anymore. It had been too heavy. It had fallen into the generator.

The world around him seemed to slow and Eric took in everything that happened next: Emily, Peter, and another woman rushed out of the facility. The creature let out one final cry as it smashed into the generator, breaking it into pieces. The metal walls of the building cracked like an egg as flames shot out the sides and transformed the power plant into a ball of fire and ash.

He looked to Sam for support, but she simply stood still on top of the Jeep, seeing things in the same surreal way he was. As Emily picked up Alex and Connor and helped them escape the burning rubble, Eric couldn't help but wonder just what the hell they'd gotten themselves in to.

* * *

"She's got five minutes, then we go." Becker was feeling… well, he didn't totally know _what_ he was feeling. In truth, he tried not to feel too much anymore. After the horror of Convergence and Jess nearly dying and the subsequent awkwardness between them and now a freaking helicopter crash in a prehistoric jungle hell, he was just feeling _done._ He'd been at the ARC for almost five years now and in that time he'd lost Sarah, Cutter, Jenny, Danny, and…

...and right now wasn't the time to be thinking about any of that. Right now he had a job to do.

"We can't just leave Abby," Matt argued, resting against the co-pilots chair. Even as he said the words Jo was sitting next to him checking instruments and getting things ready to go.

"Matt, she said to leave after an hour and I'm going to honor that. She's got five minutes." Becker had never expected himself to be the one hard-lining about leaving a teammate behind, but here he was. Matt, he knew, would never do it and Ryan was in the back trying to calm a hysterical woman, so it fell to him to do it. To be strong. But that didn't mean he didn't hate it. "Four minutes now," he said, steeling himself. "Are we ready, Jo?"

"We're ready. But now that I've started her up there's no going back. If we don't get this bird up soon there won't be enough fuel to make it back home, and if I shut her down the aux power might not be strong enough to get her back on. This is our _only_ shot."

"Then let's not waste it," Becker said. He looked out the front window for Abby, feeling, oddly enough, like crying. Becker hadn't _cried_ in years. Maybe the job really _was_ getting to him. Or, maybe he just needed to spend some time not in a freaking jungle. "Two minutes."

He left the cockpit then, moving through the aisles to wear Ryan was sitting with the woman. She seemed to be calmer now.

"Are we ready? Is Abby back yet?" Hunt asked, standing to face Becker.

"No, not yet. But listen, if we want to get out of here we have to go _now,_ and I'm worried Matt my try to stop that. I need to know you're willing to help me hold him down if… if it comes to that."

"But Matt's on our team."

"And so is Abby. But when you work for the ARC you have to put regular people first, and Matt forgets that."

"And maybe that's not a bad thing," Hunt challenged, reminding Becker that, for better or for worse, _he_ was team leader now.

"Or maybe that's the kind of thinking that gets people killed." Hunt was about to open his mouth - no doubt to yell at Becker - when they heard something pounding on the door of the plane.

"Creature?" Becker asked, moving to look out the small window.

"Dammit Becker, it's me. Open the door." Abby Maitland. Becker, almost gleefully, pushed the door open to let Abby and four other men back onto the plane. She collapsed in his arms, cuts running up and down her arms and legs. She looked exhausted.

"It's OK Abby, you're here now. You did it. You did good." Becker held her in his arms silently, looking to Hunt to take control.

"Alright!" Hunt shouted to the front. "Jo, take us home!"

* * *

"Well, you lot have managed to destroy half the airport, leave the rubble of a helicopter scattered in the past, and blow up a power plant, all in less than four hours." Lester had given the team's less than an hour of downtime before calling for a meeting where he could thoroughly berate them.

"All in a days work," Hunt quipped, earning smiles from some of the team. Lester knew it didn't mean they accepted him - hell, he himself didn't accept him yet - but at least it was a start. If blowing up half the city was the price he paid for a functioning team, then he'd take it.

"Yes, well, the minister will have some words for our two team leaders, but the rest of you are free to go. And Matt, see to it that you're leg is looked at. If it falls off I'll have to assign you to desk duty and we all know how you do with computers."

With that the team members dispersed, leaving only Lester, Hunt, and Reddington behind.

"I thought that actually went pretty well," Eric said, looking to Lester for approval.

He got none.

"Connor and Alex are unconscious in the hospital and you blew up a creature. I'd hardly say that's a 'job well done', would you?" Erc had the good sense not to answer. "Didn't think so. Now go wait in my office for the minister's call."

Eric wandered off, leaving the other two men alone.

"First day all it was cracked up to be?" Lester asked. Hunt grimaced.

"Not exactly. I didn't expect to… nearly die so many times. Or for everyone to hate me."

"Well, don't take it too personally. They hate everyone at first. Give it time."

"Yes, sir." Hunt waited awkwardly for a moment. "Well, you're dismissed. Please go now and leave me to clean up the royally huge mess the ARC has made… yet again." Hunt couldn't hide his smile as he walked away, leaving Lester finally alone.

* * *

"Matt, there's something I need to talk to you about." Matt couldn't say he was all surprised to see Abby walk into the ARC's infirmary in search of him. They'd been like two ships passing in the night for months now. Still, she looked more beat than usual and he knew she hadn't been to sleep since saving the men in the past. Whatever it was must be urgent.

"Yes, Abby?"

"Look, I didn't tell the team this, but when I was off on my own in the past, I saw… something."

"What was it?"

"Well it was… it was you, but not you." Matt couldn't hide the strange face he made from Abby… he had a bad feeling he knew what was coming.

"Go on."

"Well, there was this freaky military compound where the pilots and the other men were being held prisoner and as we were escaping they tried to kill me but… but you saved me. I think. Does that make any sense?"

"More than you know. Listen, Abby, something happened to me a few months ago, when that train derailed, that I haven't told anyone about…"

And right then and there Matt came clean to Abby on the other version of himself he'd seen and how he'd hidden it from everyone.

"So… it sounds like this guy is going to pop up again," Abby said once he had finished.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Abby thought for a moment before answering.

"Look, we've been through our fair share of weirdness in the last few years. What's one more thing on the list? We'll figure this out Matt, OK? For now, just rest."

With that Abby left him to go see to Connor, who had finally woken up. As Matt laid there in the bed, however, he found himself unable to rest. He sensed that Abby was more uneasy about the encounter than she'd seemed… that things were far worse than either of them cared to admit. So no, he wouldn't rest; he couldn't. Not when he had the distinct feeling that things were about to get so much worse.

* * *

"So, how was your first day with our little team?" Emily was surprised to find that, in a strange way, she liked Sam a lot; sure, she had a propensity towards shooting before asking questions, but that only seemed to add to her charm.

"It was… different," Emily said, grabbing two sodas out of the work fridge - modern technology was still sort of amazing to her - and handing one to Sam. "I think it's just… it's just going to take some time to adjust." Even as she said the words Emily glanced through the glass door at Eric, who was talking to Peter and laughing. She thought of Matt, and then of Eric, and then the whole bloody mess she'd gotten herself into since coming to the ARC.

"Well," Sam said, popping her drink open and drawing Emily back to reality. "I guess… here's to new beginnings." She held out her drink and Emily, for once knowing what to do, clinked her glass to it.

"To new beginnings."

* * *

Bleary eyed and exhausted from his day, Hunt returned home that night and kicked off his shoes, popped open a beer, and dialed the phone.

"Mission one was a success. They don't totally trust me yet, but they will. I do worry though… they're more of a handful than you made them out to be."

His boss's voice came over the other end of the line, sharp and clear.

"Yes, I know what's at stake. Don't worry; I said they were a handful, not that I couldn't handle it. Give me four months, maybe five, and you'll have what you need." With that Hunt hung up his phone and tossed it onto the couch next to him. _All in a day's work_ , he thought. _All in a day's work._

* * *

"I saw you on TV today, mommy." Dr. Grayson had been put through the ringer after barely escaping a fiery death at the power plant: she'd been put through medical testing, debriefing with the ARC, and a live television interview to commemorate her harrowing experience. She guessed the latter was where her son had seen her.

"Mommy had quite the day today," she said, flopping down on the couch next to her seven-year-old son, Trevor. She kicked her heels off and watched absentmindedly as he sketched in his notebook. Since her husband had died a year ago she'd been worried about Trevor, who'd taken, increasingly, to spending all his time doodling in that old, ragged notebook.

"I saw the dinosaur that blew up your job," he said, his eyes never looking away from the paper.

"You did, did you?" It occurred to her that just a few months ago a sentence like that would have sounded insane. Now, she supposed, dinosaur attacks were just another hazard of the world she lived in, like car accidents or botched plastic surgery.

"Yup. But the nice people saved you," he continued, his pencil flying in wild loops around the page.

"Yes, they did, honey. Now, Mommy's tired and you have school tomorrow, so what do you say we hit the sack? Should I hang your drawing on the fridge first?" Trevor nodded at his mother, tearing the page out of his notebook. As he did so, Dr. Grayson felt the world begin to shift around her and her thoughts begin to cloud. Memories seemed to slip away in an instant, and the harder she tried to cling to them the further they flew from her. In an instant the sensation was over, a faint buzzing at the back of her mind telling her something, maybe, could be off, but that it most likely wasn't.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her husband walk around the corner from the bedroom wearing his pajamas.

"Came home early today?" Dr. Grayson asked her husband, Kyle… though she didn't feel as though she herself was in control of her words. It felt odd to her, talking to him now, despite the fact that she did it every day. It somehow felt unreal, almost like… but that was ridiculous. This was her husband, her Kyle, the father of her child, and he'd never been gone for more than a few days on business. She shoved her doubts down into the darkest corners of her mind and remembered her appointed task: hanging her son's drawing.

As she went to stick it to the fridge, she finally saw what it was that had been sketched onto the paper: a flying creature, like the one that had attacked her, clutching a machine gun in its jaws.

* * *

 _Next time on_ Primeval:

 _Emily and Eric make a shocking discovery while doing a follow-up interview that could have dangerous repercussions for the ARC; meanwhile, Jess takes a day off so she can take her brother and niece to the museum, but her vacation takes a turn for the worse when an anomaly opens. Soon, a high-tech security system has trapped Jess, her family, and the ARC team inside. With raptors on the loose, fatalities piling up, and Connor and Becker locked outside, Abby must crack the code to lift the lockdown and save the day... before it's too late._


End file.
